IT has been observed that in spite of their contributions to the socio-economic development of nations when it comes to politics especially in Africa women are always relegated to the background just as attempts made by them to push for political emancipation is often resisted and sometimes violently.
The observation was made by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Bauchi State, Ibrahim Abdullahi in his opening address at a one-day seminar on mitigating violence against women in elections held on Monday in Bauchi.
The REC disclosed that instances abound in the political sphere where women are physically assaulted and psychologically violated citing as examples late Benazzir Bhutto and Hajiya Gambo Sawaba adding the harassment of Senator Remi Tinubu at the National Assembly as another typical example of physical violence against women.
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He, however, saluted the courage of Nigerian women for moving ahead to enforce their rights to fare political participation in spite of all odds pointing out that since democracy is about participatory and good governance, no segment of the democratic society should be excluded.
Ibrahim Abdullahi added that electoral violence against women is damaging to democratic societies especially in a country like Nigeria that have attempted inclusive governance declaring that, “it should, therefore, be addressed and ultimately prevented as failure to do so is likely to result in minimal participation of women in the electoral process and voter apathy in the process as a whole.”
While stating that the Commission values women participation in the electoral process and through the gender unit has created a platform for women as its own contribution to fighting gender-based violence, the REC stated that the avenue of the seminar was to enlighten participants and rub minds on how gender-based violence is likely to cause physical, sexual or mental harm in the electoral process and how to totally eradicate, curtail or make it less severe.
He then emphasized that violence against women is a grave violation of human rights as its impact ranges from immediate to long term repercussions with multiple physical, sexual and mental consequences saying, “therefore, it is imperative for all hands to be on deck to fight this monster especially during the elections.”